Angry Deuce's Beastmaster Duo Guide
Category:Guides =Overview= There are many Beastmaster guides out there already, however, I've yet to come across one that fully makes use of the Field Manuals that exist around Vana'diel. The low cost, long lasting regen, refresh, and reraise available from these manuals are invaluable to decreasing overall downtime...and the bonuses to experience for completing regimes are nice as well. In this guide, I will talk about gear, food, pretty much the whole experience. I will say that cooking is a craft that lends itself well to Beastmaster, as you will be able to make your own jug pets, pet food, and food for yourself. As a craft, cooking is probably the cheapest to level, as 95% of ingredients are easily purchased from vendors, and the rest is easily farmed, even from low levels (Wild Onions, Honey). If you plan on cooking your own items, when leveling be sure to save any Earth Crystals and Water Crystals you may get; the Earth for the pet food and the Water for the jug pets. From 1-24, we both subbed WHM, however at 24 my duo partner switched to a NIN sub and took a more "tank" role in our duo, although sometimes it can be difficult to secure hate. As BST, be prepared to deal with hate shifts...especially when in a duo with similar pets. Hate walks a very fine line and it's easy to tip it unfavorably. Don't be afraid to walk (or run) away when things start looking bad, and always keep your bearings... =The Levels= 0-10 ---- 10-14 And then for my Fight macro right next to it, I re-swapped my melee gear in: It worked well for me since I pretty much always melee'd alongside my pet at these levels, but obviously there will be some tweaking going on as more +CHR gear is gotten. The Food: Again, food isn't hyper critical at this stage, although increasing your MP pool in most cases is a pretty safe bet. You will probably still have some of the food left over from levels 1-10, just continue to use that. For the most part, what you're doing hasn't really changed. Pets: You will gain the ability Gauge at level 10. While it sounds like an awesome ability on paper (okay, maybe not) in reality you probably won't be using this much. When it comes to charming pets, you generally want to stick to things that check Even Match, although at this point Decent Challenges will probably do just fine, too. You may have to do some legwork to find a decent pet, so be prepared for this. Strategy: Seeing as how me and my duo partner are both San d'Orian, this guide is written from that direction in terms of zones (Ronfaure/La Theine/Valkurm)...however, all the starter zones are pretty comparable. Although the mobs may be different, our experiences in La Theine Plateau will be pretty much the same as yours in Konschtat or Meriphataud. :: Levels 10-12: . Field Manual located just outside the W. Ronfaure zone. Do page 1 to start (3 Strolling Saplings & 3 Huge Wasps). Choice of pet doesn't really matter, although the Saplings may intimidate a hare. The saplings are going to be all over just in front of you at D-5, E-5, E-6 (watch for Orcs), the Bees to the west around the crevasse. What we found works best was to stay topside and get your saplings then just fall down and run circles around the crevasse killing Bees and everything else that spawns down there (although the sheep may be a little difficult at first). You will undoubtedly finish the regime in about 15 minutes, so just keep killing until you are able to get a new book, rinse/repeat. If these get a little on the weak side (they probably will) upgrade to Page 2 (3 Sheep/5 Akbabas), although the Helldive and Sheepsong can make things interesting. :: Levels 12-14: By this point you should be moving your way into the zone, so use the Field Manual just to the East of the Holla Crystal. Charm Crabs or Akbaba's and work on either Page 3 (8 Funguars) or Page 4 (5 Sheep/3 Crabs). We stayed with Page 3 because of the tons of Funguar spawns in the I-11 area. These will become DC before too long, but are really easy and quick kills, so it's up to you. Crabs can be a pain with their Metallic Body and nobody likes Sheep Song, but if you'd rather kill them by all means. Page 5 is a huge pain in the ass due to the limited spawn times of the bats, so don't even bother. By 14 La Theine will probably be bottoming out for a duo, although solo you may be okay to 15. |} ---- 14-24 ---- 24-30 ----